By Jordan Richart | The Tribune
For The Republic
BROWNSTOWN — A local hog farm has been cleared of wrongdoing after prosecutors declined charges following a national animal rights organization’s call for an investigation into their practices.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jeff Chalfant declined charges against East Fork Farms in Brownstown following an investigation that started when an anonymous video was sent to police by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, according to a news release from Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, public information officer for the Indiana State Police Versailles Post.
The edited version of the video was released Oct. 9 by PETA and was filmed in early September. The video shows dead piglets, workers cutting off tails and throwing pigs to each other, overflowing waste systems, decomposing pigs and more.
A second video was released in October and showed similar conditions.
According to the news release, the investigation showed that an unknown person or persons illegally entered the farm on multiple occasions in September and October and captured video inside the facility at night when no workers were present. Detectives determined cameras were then hidden inside the facility to capture daytime operations.
Wheeles wrote in a news release that police believe some clips were staged and that some were even filmed at another facility.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
